Asus is refreshing its line of budget Chromebooks for the education market with two new models sporting 11.6 inch HD displays, Intel Alder Lake-N processors, and rugged cases.
The Asus Chromebook CR11 (CR1102C) is a clamshell-style notebook with support for up to an Intel Processor N200 chip, 8GB of RAM and 128GB of eMMC storage, while the Asus Chromebook CR11 Flip (CR1102F) is a convertible model with a touchscreen display, 360-degree hinge, and optional support for a digital pen.
Both laptops feature rubber bumpers, spill-resistant keyboards, and MIL-STD-810H tested designs for drop and shock resistance, among other things. In other words, they’re meant to put up with a bit of abuse whether used at home or in a classroom environment.
Asus says they’re also designed to be easily repaired by IT professionals, with a modular design that makes it relatively easy to replace keyboards, touchpads, or displays in just a few minutes.
The Asus Chromebook CR11 and CR11 Flip both feature two USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-C ports, two USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A ports, a 3.5mm audio jack and a microSD card reader. Wireless capabilities include support for WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.1, and the laptops have 50 Wh batteries and come with 45W USB-C power adapters.
Each model has a 720p primary camera with a privacy shutter, but the CR11 Flip also has an 8MP world-facing camera positioned above the keyboard. Flip the screen backward 360 degrees and hold the computer like a tablet and you can use this camera to snap pictures or shoot videos.
Asus also offers an optional USI stylus for the CR11 flip. The pen can fit into a “garage” in the computer’s body for safe keeping when you’re not using it.
While both the CR11 and CR11 Flip have 1366 x 768 pixel displays, the convertible model has a slightly brighter display (250 nits vs 220) and comes with support for an optional Corning Gorilla Glass panel.
The Asus Chromebook CR11 measures 294 x 206 x 21mm (11.6″ x 8.1″ x 0.8″) and weighs 1.32kg (about 2.9 pounds), while the CR11 Flip is the same size, but a little heavier, at 1.47 kg (3.24 pounds).
Asus hasn’t announced how much the laptops will cost or when they’ll be available for purchase.
Hmm those could be nice little potentially cheap linux laptops provided you can uefi fw working on it
Agreed. And I’d be ok with using a CR11 with ChromeOS, if the price was right. I’ve used 10- and 11-inch netbooks and Chromebooks happily since ASUS came out with their 1000 eeePC model more than a decade ago, and I prefer clamshells to flips, convertibles, or tablets. I’m glad to see these moving up to 8 GB memory, but I really wish there were at least a couple of models with M.2 SSDs, rather than soldered eMMC storage, which works well enough for now, but doesn’t give you any path for upgrades.